Whumptober 2019 - 11 - Stitches
by DinerGuy
Summary: 2018 reboot. Their afternoon had already gone pretty far into "terrible" territory, what with the whole "simple surveillance goes sideways when it turns into a fistfight that then turns into a knife fight" thing. So of course a foolish kid would choose today to try to rob the coffee shop. Because why not?


_A/N: Standard disclaimers apply._

* * *

"Really, I'm fine." Magnum protested. "Would you stop acting like I'm about to fall over from blood loss?"

Higgins raised an eyebrow as she steered the Ferrari into the coffee shop's car park. "Yes, because getting oneself stabbed is nothing to be concerned about."

"He didn't stab me; he barely grazed me! I had the situation completely under control."

"Right, and that's why you just had to get twenty stitches."

"It wasn't even that deep!" He spread his hands as if to argue, then winced as the movement pulled at his injury.

The change in his expression wasn't lost on Higgins. "They had to _sew your side closed."_

"It was only, like, two inches! Three maybe. That's barely a scratch!"

But she wasn't about to give up. "They had to give you prescription-strength painkillers to get you through the procedure," she pointed out.

Magnum made a face. "Higgy, I've had worse. I'll be fine."

Higgins was beginning to appreciate the fact that he'd talked her into stopping for coffee. She'd need it if the whole trip back to Robin's Nest was going to be like this.

She almost offered to run inside and order for both of them, but Magnum was already climbing out of the car, grimacing as he did but not looking for help. Sighing, she just shook her head and exited the driver's side. If he was going to be stubborn and insist on limping his way inside, she'd let him. Maybe it would be the lesson he needed so he'd stay on the couch when she got him home. Even with Rick and T.C.'s help, she wasn't exactly holding her breath Magnum would behave.

There were a few other customers ahead of them, waiting to order, so Higgins and Magnum slipped into the back of the queue. Higgins kept an eye on the man next to her while they waited; he was swaying ever so slightly on his feet as he squinted at the menu board, and she was honestly worried he might tip over at the slightest movement.

"Why don't you go sit at a table?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not so sure you should be standing up right now."

His hand went to his side, but he just smirked at her. "Nah, I'm fine."

"You certainly don't look fine," she replied. "Look at you!"

At her words, Magnum glanced down at his feet, and Higgins sighed.

"You're about to fall over," she continued. "Just tell me what you want, and I'll order for you."

It looked like he was seriously considering her offer when their afternoon—which had already gone pretty far into "terrible" territory, what with the whole "simple surveillance goes sideways when it turns into a fistfight that then turns into a knife fight" thing—got even worse.

Of course a foolish kid would choose today to try to rob the coffee shop. Because why not?

* * *

When the guy ran inside, waving a pistol and yelling for the cashier to empty the register, Magnum blinked in surprise. At first, he thought he might have been seeing things. After all, he was seeing two Higgys lecturing him while they stood in line. What was a robber with a gun on top of all of that?

But then he shook his head at himself. The pain meds might have him a little doped up, but he was fairly certain he wasn't in full-on hallucination mode. That meant the bad guy with the gun was definitely there. Which meant this was definitely not the best afternoon he'd ever had.

Other customers were ducking and screaming, but the kid with the gun was also yelling. Magnum couldn't quite make out all of the words with the way his head was pounding, but it didn't really matter. The guy was obviously there to rob the place, and that was all Magnum needed to know.

He frowned as he looked over at Higgins. Relief that he was now only seeing one of her was paired with concern about why she was doing nothing. He'd seen her take down guys twice as big and scary as the punk who was holding up the coffee shop—and who held up a cafe anyway? There couldn't possibly be enough money to make it worthwhile. There were other, bigger shops nearby. Why not rob one of them instead?

Then he shook his head. Why didn't matter right now. He needed to focus. Focus… on what was wrong that Higgy couldn't take down the guy. Was she out of reach? He squinted as he tried to gauge the distance between Higgy and the robber. It was… a little wide, sure, but she was fast. She could easily close the gap in a couple of quick steps.

Magnum swallowed as his vision doubled suddenly, then went back to normal. He supposed he needed to do something to help before the situation got any worse. If Higgy couldn't do anything, then that left it up to him to step in and keep things from escalating.

When the gun-toting robber turned to face the counter again, Magnum made his move. He thought he heard Higgins yell his name as he launched forward and hit the guy with a picture-perfect football tackle that took him down to the tile floor.

Something tore at his side with a jolt of pain that he felt even past the drugs in his system, and he realized he must have torn his stitches. Well, that was just great.

But, before he could dwell on that thought any longer, he felt something smash into his face. If the room hadn't been spinning before, it certainly was now. Magnum gasped for breath as he tried to bring the world back into focus. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that he needed to get to his feet, needed to get the bad guy before anything worse happened, but his body just wouldn't listen to what he was trying to tell it to do.

Vaguely, he heard the sounds of a struggle from somewhere nearby, but, when he turned to try to see what was happening, the world grew dark. He flopped back onto his back, his hand reflexively going to his side as he felt an uncomfortable sensation spreading out from the wound he'd just gotten patched up less than an hour before.

A warm, sticky liquid coated his palm and fingers, and he briefly thought of what the doctor would say when Magnum showed up for replacement stitches after just having been discharged. He coughed, feeling the blood flow increase at the movement, and then took a deep breath. He had to get up, had to—

"Hey, lie still!" Higgy's face suddenly appeared in his swirling vision, and he felt her hand on his shoulder. "Stay there."

"Higgy… What happened?" Despite the weight of her hand, he tried sitting up again, then groaned as it sent a low burning sensation rumbling up into his chest.

She shook her head. "Do you know how stupid what you just did was?"

"I was just trying to help," he protested. "You clearly couldn't do anything, and—"

"Hang on. Do you really think I would just stand there and not doing anything while an idiot adolescent tries to rob a store with his safety still on?"

Oh. The safety was on? He hadn't noticed.

Higgins glanced toward the door, then looked back to Magnum and continued. "The ambulance should be here in a moment. Just stay put, okay?"

"Nah, I'm fine," he said, trying to wave off the concern. "Help me up?"

"I will do no such thing." She crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow. "And neither will you."

"Higgy—"

"Magnum, I swear, if you insist you're fine one more time, I'm going to pin you down and redo your stitches myself."

He tilted his head as he considered her threat, then decided that, if her expression was anything to go by, she was absolutely serious. So he sank back against the tiles and nodded. "Probably… more sanitary at the hospital anyway."

Higgins just shook her head and sighed. "You think?"

* * *

_Fin._


End file.
